Harlequins Foundation Announce Charity Partnership In South Africa
Harlequins Foundation Announce Charity Partnership In South Africa. Harlequins Foundation is delighted to announce a partnership with South African based charity LIV Village, in support of 180 orphaned and vulnerable children based in Durban.
Across the 2022/23 European Champions Cup campaign, Harlequins Foundation will be raising awareness and funds for LIV Village to be able to provide food, books, clothes and other necessities to the charity who care for orphaned and vulnerable children. The partnership will be supported through several key initiatives:
The Harlequins Men’s squad have visited LIV Village ahead of their Heineken Champions Cup match with the Durban based Sharks. The squad trained at LIV Village and then spent time meeting the children and hearing their stories. The Harlequins Foundation are attending LIV Village for 3 days this week ahead of the Sharks match to deliver a high-quality coaching and education programme, using their newly established ‘Rugby in a Box’ initiative. Alongside this, The Foundation team are delivering fun coaching sessions in neighbouring schools and run a ‘train the trainer’ programme to further support the initiative.
Supported through the established Tries for Lives donation platform, supporters can donate to LIV Village or a pledge per try scored by Harlequins across their Heineken Champions Cup campaign. Supporters also have the option to donate via the Harlequins Foundation in the form of a one off donation. All Harlequins players are donating and supporting LIV Village through this campaign.Key donors will be invited back to The Stoop at the end of the campaign to hear from the Foundation and LIV Village about the impact of their contributions.
Harlequins Men’s Club Captain Stephan Lewies explained “LIV Village is an incredible charity and something very close to my heart that I have supported for many years. We are incredibly fortunate in this country and in our position as rugby players, but I have witnessed how hard life can be and along with the rest of the squad, we are determined to make a difference. To be able to use our profile to showcase and support the work of Liv Village is something we are proud to do. We can’t wait to scores tries, win matches and help change lives and we hope our supporters around the world will join us in helping LIV Village.
LIV Village Leader Carita McCririe said “We are delighted that Harlequins are supporting us this year and we look forward to meeting the squad in December – the children are already so excited. Most of our children have had a difficult and traumatic introductions to their short lives, but here at LIV we focus on their healing journey to raise them up as future leaders of South Africa. And in doing this, we desperately need the basics in life, be that food, books, clothing so any funds raised are crucial to help us raise our children. But also the power to inspire and connect is something very special and to have the Harlequins squad here, alongside coaching from the Harlequins Foundation is something the children will never forget”.
Head of Harlequins Foundation Marc Leckie said “We are passionate about the impact sport, and in our case, rugby can have on people. Our focus is on harnessing the power of sport, and the unique profile of Harlequins, to learn about life at LIV Village and provide support where we can. It is our ambition to not only have an impact in our heartlands, in and around our home The Stoop, but to also find partners who share our vision and with whom we can make a bigger difference together. It is exciting to be part of building strong communities through the worldwide rugby family.”
